Blurb: If this is the Land Before Life, then where do all the Souls come from?
Quince is in charge of handing out the lives. But it’s Bob who has all the questions, like:
If Quince hands out the lives…who handed out Quince?
And
What happens to the Poor Souls when they come out the other side of Life?
But most of all:
When do I get a turn?
The thing is, how can Bob possibly have a go at running the Land Before Life, if all his boss will let him do is make the tea?
But when Bob gets some help in putting Quince out of the way, he finds that running the Land Before Life is much more trouble than he anticipated.
Worse, where has Quince even gone? Now Bob has to go on a rescue mission, travelling to the most weird and disturbing place imaginable: Life. Or at least, to a version of it…
Diminishing Returns is a novella set in the Universe of Quince, salesman of fine lives new and used. Please be assured that this story contains levels of strangeness deemed optimal for its smooth unfolding.
This collection also contains The First Flash Ten, ten tiny stories of magic, fantasy, humour and horror, which were originally posted on my website and were mailed out in my newsletter. Each story comes complete with a beautiful illustration, drawn by various artists and inspired by the story in question.
These stories are now being cycled out of my website in favour of new stories, which will in turn be released in a collection. So if you want to read the first batch of tiny stories, this is the place to look…
Tiny stories in this collection:
Just Like Vinyl
The Hottest Day
Worry, Worry, Worry
Make It Count
The Next Act At The Divine Comedy Store
First Draft
Why They Chew Us
Extraction
Clean Energy
The Nothing At The Edge Of The Universe
Jamie Brindle writes huge ideas in tiny stories.
His writing style is beautifully crafted and whimsical; sometimes darkly bitter and sometimes sweetly light.
Each of the tiny stories in this collection stands alone and each one left me feeling pensive, contemplative, hopeful and satisfied.
The titular novella, Diminishing Returns is a slightly longer version of the author’s miniature tales. The characters and setting grab you immediately, and there is exciting action, driving an interesting plot, but again the main take-aways from the text are the feelings and thoughts invoked in the reader.
The sense that things may not be quite right, but they can be fixed, and if they can’t then maybe that’s ok too. The idea that our lives are bigger than our daily grind, and consist of a multitude of tiny moments and actions that contribute to a much bigger picture. The beauty in the small things.
Miraculously the author manages to explore these concepts (as well as the political, the religious/spiritual, the environmental and more) without sounding preachy or pedantic, but with a light, humourous touch that never forgets the entertainment aspect of story-spinning.
I wholly recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, easy read, full of wonder and meaning.
Most people spend their lives asking the wrong question, which is, “What happens after you die?” The right question is of course, “What are you going to do now that you are alive?” But that is a much bigger and scarier question, so most people generally just stick to the death one, and hope that life will sort itself out while they are busy worrying about something else.
– Jamie Brindle, Diminishing Returns
Find more from Jamie Brindle at his website here, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
You can buy Diminishing Returns on Amazon right now!
I previously mentioned Jamie Brindle in my blog on Author newsletters last year.
Bookshine And Readbows 
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